BY LEE J. SNELLER zzyg flwtwrlwf Arr mm United States Patent 3,664,626 BRACKET FOR MOUNTING DECORATIONS ON A BUILDING FRONT Lee J. Sneller, Fresno, Calif., assiguor to Valley Decorating Company, Pinedale, Calif. Filed July 30, 1970, Ser. No. 59,576 Int. Cl. E04b 7/18; F21v 33/00 U.S. Cl. 248-224 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of invention This invention relates to a bracket assembly for mounting an ornament such as a holiday decoration on a building front or marquee.

Description of Prior art Building front decorations such as those used seasonally during holidays have typically been mounted flush to a building face by either bolting the decorations directly to the face or hanging them by cables attached to the roof line. An alternative mounting technique is to stretch a cable across the building face and hang the decorations, like clothes on a clothesline, on it. The cable techniques are preferable over the bolting technique since the former require drilling fewer bolt holes in the building front.

Many building fronts are not adapted to mount decorations in the above described manners. Sometimes there is no front above the marquee and thus nowwhere to mount the decorations. In other instances the roof line design is such that the decorations cannot be mounted on the face without drilling numerous bolt holes. Other fronts have a marquee which extends so far out from the building face that a decoration mounted flush to the building face would not be readily seen.

Also many seasonal decorations are designed to be mounted on poles such as light poles rather than on building fronts. These pole mounted decorations usually have profiles which require them to be mounted such that they extend outwardly away from the mounting. Accordingly, that have not generally been heretofore useful for mounting on a building front.

The present invention is directed to a unique bracket assembly which may be used to mount building front decorations as well as pole mounted decorations to building fronts or marquees. These novel brackets are adjustable such that they may be employed with a variety of roof lines and marquees; many of which could not heretofore be decorated without significantly defacing the building front. The brackets of this invention which are specifically designed to be used for mounting decorations on building fronts require either no bolt holes or only a single bolt hole. The brackets of this invention especially adapted for afiixing decorations to marquees require no bolt holes. Accordingly, these brackets provide a means for mounting both pole mounted and building front decorations with only insignificant or no defacing of the building front.

3,664,626 Patented May 23, 1972 "Ice DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION The bracket of this invention is adapted to be affixed over a building projection such as a roof line or a marquee. Such projections or a portion of such projections will usually have a generally vertical inner side and a generally vertical outer side. The bracket comprises two interlocking portions: an adjustable support and an ornament holder. The support portion is adjustable horizontally to fit the width of the projection and vertically so that the ornament may be positioned at the desired height on the building face or marquee.

The support portion of the bracket is comprised of four members. The first is an elongated member which is longer than the width of the projection and is adapted to extend across the top of the projection when the support is in place. The preferred embodiment of this member is a fiat plate with a longitudinal slot which extends over at least a significant portion of its length. The second mem ber is also elongated and is affixed transversely to the outer end of the first member. It is adapted to extend downwardly from the first member along the outer side of the projection. The preferred embodiment of this second member is an inverted L-shaped plate which overhangs the outer shoulder of the projection. The connection between the second member and first member may be permanent, e.g., a weld, or semipermanent, e.g., bolts.

The third member is elongated and is adapted to be connected transversely to the first member inwardly of the second member such that it may be removed therefrom and adjusted horizontally relative thereto. When the support is in place over the projection the third member extends downwardly along the inner side of the projection. The preferred embodiment of this third member is an inverted L-shaped plate which overhangs the inner shoulder of the projection. The first member-third member connection may take the form of a bolt or stud extending perpendicularly from the horizontal surface of the surface of the third member through the slot in the first member and a nut which fits over the end of the bolt. By sliding the bolt in the slot the third member may be adjusted horizontally to fit the width of the projection.

The fourth member is also elongated and is adapted to be connected to the second member such that it may be adjusted vertically relative to the second member. When the suport is mounted on the projection this member eX- tends downwardly from the second member along the outer side of the projection. The means for connecting this fourth member to the second member may be essentially the same as the means used to connect the third member to the first member. A means for receiving the holder portion of the bracket assembly is positioned on the outer side of the fourth member.

When the support portion is to be used for affixing a decoration to a marquee it includes a fifth elongated member which is connected to the lower end of the fourth member and is adapted to extend inwardly therefrom along the bottom of the marquee. The preferred embodiment of this fifth member is an L-shaped plate which overhands the lower outer shoulder of the marquee.

The preferred embodiment of the above described bracket assembly may be further understood by reference to the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bracket assembly of this invention showing the support portion attached to a building wall which projects upwardly from the building roof and the holder portion disassociated from the support portion holding a candle ornament.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, perspective, telescopic view of the support portion of the bracket assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial sectional view of the support portion of the bracket assembly of FIG. 1 taken along line 3-3.

(FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a variation of the support portion of the bracket assembly of FIG. 1 modified to be attached to a building marquee rather than a building wall.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the support portion of FIG. 4 taken along line 55.

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 illustrate a bracket assembly for mounting an ornament, such as candle ornament l, to a building wall 2 having a projection 3 which extends upwardly from building roof 7 and includes an inner or rear side 4, an outer or front side 5 and a top 6. The assembly includes two portions: a support generally designated 8, which is attached over projection 3 and an ornament holder, generally designated 9.

The basic parts of support portion 8 are flat, slotted, horizontal member 10, elongated L-shaped members 11, 12 and flat slotted vertical member 13. All of these parts may be made from conventional flat iron of to A inch thickness. Member consists of a pair of elongated parallel spaced bars 17, 18 of rectangular cross section which are rigidly interconnected at one end (inner) by a small transverse bar 19. As illustrated in FIG. 1, member 10 is sufficiently long so that when support 8 is positioned over projection 3 member 10 extends across at least the entire width of top 6. L-shaped member 11 is rigidly mounted on the forward ends of bars 17, 18 and is de signed to overhang the outer shoulder of projection 3.

The horizontal segment 20 of elongated L-shaped member 11 is rigidly connected at approximately the center of its outer face to the undersides of the ends of bars 17, 18 opposite those with its outer edge flush with the ends of bars 17, 18. When mounted over projection 3, segment 20 lies fiat against top 6. The vertical segment 21 of member 11 extends downwardly along side 5 of wall 2. The inner faces of segment 20, 21 are padded with padding 22 to prevent the marring or scratching of top 6 and side 5. Padding 22 may be made of any resilient, non-abrasive material such as felt or sponge rubber.

Elongated L-shaped member 12 is adapted to be re movably and horizontally adjustably attached transversely to the undersides of bars 17, 18 and overhang the inner shoulder of projection 3. The outer face of horizontal segment 23 of member 12 has a small transverse bar 24 of rectangular cross section and width slightly smaller than the width of slot 26 between bars 17, 18 rigidly aflixed at approximately its longitudinal center. A stud 25 extends upwardly from approximately the center of bar 24. In its assembled position stud 25 and bar 24 extend through slot 26 in a tongue-in-groove relationship and member 12 is attached to the underside of member 10 by placing washer 27 and hexhead nut 28 onto stud 25. Thus member 12 may be adjusted horizontally to fit snugly against the inner shoulder of projection 3 by loosening nut 28 and sliding bar 24 and stud 25 along slot 26 to the desired position and retightening nut 28.

Elongated vertical member 13 is of similar construction to member 10 and is attached to elongated L-shaped member 11 in essentially the same manner as elongated L- shaped member 12 is attached to member 10. The main differences are that member 13 is much longer than member 10 and is attached to member 11 such that it may be adjusted vertically rather than horizontally. As in the case of member 10, member 13 includes a pair of parallel spaced bars 34, of rectangular cross section which form a slot 36 and are interconnected at one end (lower) by a small transverse bar 37 of rectangular cross section. A small flat bar 38 of rectangular cross section and width slightly smaller than the width of slot 36 is rigidly and transversely connected at approximately the center of the outer face of segment 21 of member 11. A stud 39 extends outwardly from the center of bar 38. In its assembled position bar 38 and stud 39 extend through slot 36 in a 4 tongue-in-groove type relationship and member 13 is attached to the outer side of segment 21 by placing washer 40 and hexhead nut 41 onto stud 39. Thus by loosening nut 40 member 13 may be adjusted vertically by sliding it upwardly or downwardly relative to bar 38 and stud 39 to the desired position and then retightening nut 41.

If a heavy ornament is to be supported it is desirable to bolt the bottom end of member 13 to side 5 to prevent member 13 from pivoting about stud 39.

A pair of short channel shaped members 42, 43 are rigidily attached to the outer face of member 13; one near its top and the other intermediate its top and bar 37. One side wall of the channel is afiixed to bar 34 and the other sidewall is affixed to bar 35 such that the channel members 42, 43 extend outwardly from member 13 with their openings aligned in a generally vertical position. Channel members 42, 43 are the means for receiving holder 9 in interlocking relationship with support 8.

As illustrated in 'FIG. 1, holder 9 includes a thin flat bar 44 and a pair of struts 45, 46 which interconnect bar 44 with candle ornament 1. Bar 44 comprises a hook portion 47 at one end; a fiat vertical portion 48, one end of which is integral with hook portion 47; a downwardly and inwardly inclined portion 49 integral with portion 48; and a flat vertical end portion 50, one end of which is integral with the lowermost end of portion 49. To place holder 9 in interlocking relationship with support 8 the free end of end portion 50 is slid into the opening of channel member 43 and the free end of hook portion 47 is slid down into the opening of channel member 42.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate a bracket assembly of this invention which is adapted to be used to mount an ornament to a marquee, generally designated 54, having a horizontal portion 55 which normally extends outwardly from a building front and a vertical portion 56 which extends upwardly from the outward edge of horizontal portion 55. This assembly, as that of FIG. 1, includes two portions: a support, generally designated 57, and an ornament holder (shown in phantom in FIG. 5), generally designated 58. The parts of support 57 which fit over the top of portion 56 of marquee 54, namely elongated vertical member '59 and elongated L-shaped members 60, 61, are identical in construction, function and interconnection to their counterparts in support 8. The differences between support 57 and support 8 are in the construction of vertical member 62 as compared to vertical member 13.

Elongated vertical member 62 comprises of a pair of parallel spaced bars 63, 64 of rectangular cross section which are interconnected at their upper ends by a small transverse bar 65 of rectangular cross section. An elongated L-shaped member 66 is rigidly attached at about the center of the outward face of its vertical segment 67 to the inner sides of the opposite (lower) ends of each of bars 63, 64. [In its assembled position, L-shaped member 66 extends down and around the outer lower shoulder of marquee 64 with its vertical segment 67 extending upwardly along the outer side of portion 56 and its horizontal segment 68 extending inwardly along the bottom of portion 55. As in the case of L-shaped members 11, 12, 60 and 61, a padding 69 is interposed between the inner surfaces of segments 67, 68 and the mating surfaces of the marquee to prevent marring or scratching of the latter.

The means for attaching member 63, to member 61 is the same as the means used to attach member 13 to member 11.

FIG. 4 also illustrates a modified means for interconnecting the support portion of the bracket to the holder portion thereof. Instead of employing a pair of channel members connected directly to the slotted, vertical member a pair of thin plates 70, 71 are rigidly mounted transversely on the outer sides of bars 63, 64 intermediate the ends thereof. A pair of channel members 72, 73, respectively, are mounted on each plate 70,

71 in the same fashion as channel members 42, 43 are afiixed to member 13. Correlatively, holder 58 is different from holder 9 in that hook portion 74 and end portion 75 of bar176 of the former each have two prongs (not shown) which fit into the pairs of channel members 72, 73 in interlocking relationship.

Various modifications of the structures and interconnection of the above described preferred embodiment which are obvious to those of ordinary skill in the bracket and support art are intended to be within the scope of the invention. For instance the shape of various members may be altered to accommodate particular roof or marquee designs and clamp type connections may be used in place of the above described tongue-in-groove connections between the first and third and second and fourth members. It is also apparent that the bracket of this invention may be used for mounting decorations on projections other than those on buildings. For instance these brackets may be used to mount decorations on parade floats, large advertising signs and the like.

I claim:

'1. A bracket assembly for aflixing an ornament to a projection on a building said projection having a generally vertical inner side and a generally vertical outer side, comprising:

(a) a first elongated member of greater length than the width of said projection and adapted to extend across the top of said projection;

(b) a second elongated member rigidly affixed transversely to the outer end of said first member and adapted to extend downwardly therefrom along the outer side of said projection;

(c) a third elongated member adapted to be connected transversely to said first member in removable and generally horizontally adjustable relationship and extend downwardly along the inner side of said projection;

(d) means for connecting said third member to said first member in removable and generally horizontally adjustable relationship;

(e) a fourth elongated member adapted to be connected to said second member in removable and generally vertically adjustable relationship and extend downwardly from said second member along the outer side of said projection;

(f) means for connecting said fourth member to said second member in removable and generally vertically adjustable relationship;

(g) holder means for rigidly holding said ornaments;

and

(h) means on said fourth member for receiving said holder means in interlocking relationship.

2. A bracket assembly according to claim 1 wherein:

(i) said second member is L-shaped and is adapted to overhang the outer shoulder of said projection; and

(j) said third member is L-shaped and is adapted to overhang the inner shoulder of said projection.

3. A bracket assembly according to claim 2 wherein:

(k) said first member includes a first pair of elongated spaced, parallel flat bars rigidly interconnected at their inner ends;

(1) said fourth member includes a second pair of elongated, spaced, parallel fiat bars rigidly interconnected at their upper ends;

(m) said means for connecting said third member to said first member includes: a small flat bar of rectangular cross section having a width slightly less than the space between said first pair of elongated, spaced parallel fiat bars rigidly mounted transversely on the horizontal segment of said L-shaped thirdmember; a stud extending normally from said small flat bar; and a nut adapted to fit onto said stud, said stud and said bar being adapted to fit into the space between said first pair of elongated, spaced parallel flat bars; and

(u) said means for connecting said fourth member to said second member includes: a second small flat bar of rectangular-cross section having a width slightly less than the space between said second pair of elongated, spaced parallel flat bars rigidly mounted transversely on the horizontal segment of said L- shaped second member; a second stud extending normally from said second small flat bar; and a second nut adapted to fit onto said second stud, said second stud and said second small flat bar being adapted to fit into the space between said second pair of elongated, spaced parallel flat bars.

4. The bracket assembly according to claim '1 wherein:

(i) said projection is a marquee; and

(j) said assembly includes a fifth elongated member rigidly afiixed transversely to the lower end of said fourth member and adapted to extend inwardly therefrom along the bottom of said marquee.

'5. The bracket assembly according to claim 2 wherein:

(k) said projection is a marquee; and

(1) said assembly includes an elongated L-shaped member rigidly affixed transversely to the lower end of said fourth member and adapted to overhang the lower outer shoulder of said marquee.

6. The bracket assembly according to claim 3 wherein:

(0) said projection is a marquee; and

(p) said assembly includes an elongated L-shaped member rigidly aflixed transversely to the lower end of said fourth member and adapted to overhang the lower outer shoulder of said marquee.